Hilary Hahn - In 27 Pieces

Information

CD1:

1. Franghiz Ali-Zadeh - Impulse
2. Somei Satoh - Bifu
3. Du Yun - When a Tiger Meets a Rosa Rugosa
4. David Lang - Light Moving
5. Bun-Ching Lam - Solitude d'automne
6. Paul Moravec - Blue Fiddle
7. Antón García Abril - Third Sigh
8. Avner Dorman - Memory Games
9. David Del Tredici - Farewell
10. Mason Bates - Ford's Farm
11. Einojuhani Rautavaara - Whispering
12. Gillian Whitehead - Torua
13. Richard Barrett - Shade
14. Jennifer Higdon - Echo Dash

CD2:

1. Christos Hatzis - Coming To
2. Jeff Myers - The Angry Birds of Kauai
3. Mark-Anthony Turnage - Hilary's Hoedown
4. Valentin Silvestrov - Pieces for Violin and Piano
5. Kala Ramnath - Aalap and Tarana
6. Lera Auerbach - Speak, Memory
7. Tina Davidson - Blue Curve of the Earth
8. Elliott Sharp - Storm of the Eye
9. Michiru Oshima - Memories
10. James Newton Howard - 133… At Least
11. Nico Muhly - Two Voices
12. Søren Nils Eichberg - Levitation
13. Max Richter - Mercy

Hilary Hahn, violin
Cory Smythe, piano

Date: 2013
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4791725

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

There may be plenty of new music being written for violin but not on a small enough scale to present new and interesting encores. So Hilary Hahn has over the years gradually commissioned a compendium of works for just that purpose which incidentally, in the process, takes the listener through every area of strength in her own technique (leaving none of weakness, in case you were wondering).

‘In 27 Pieces’ may represent a broad compass of styles, cultures and epochs, presented by an equally broad group of composers, but it is the ability of Hahn, and her accompanist Cory Smythe to bring out the individualities of each tiny vignette that lifts this disc from helpful reference for small-scale repertoire to satisfyingly cohesive collection of new works. Cohesive not just because each was written for Hahn herself and therefore goes some way towards representing her, but for the fact that she takes the composers’ enormous variety of aspects on her playing and performs them as if she were a different player: in each, an actor unrecognisable from her previous role.

The programming is equally ingenious, avoiding the relentlessness it is sometimes possible to sense in a long line-up of free standing pieces. There is certainly challenging music here – not least The Angry Birds of Kauai by Jeff Myers, which won Hahn’s blind internet competition for the 27th space on the disc, and Elliott Sharp’s Storm of the Eye – but it is satisfying to discover, piece by piece, that the works by composers that would automatically be assumed to stand out from the rest are not necessarily the gems of the disc. In particular, those by Rautavaara, Jennifer Higdon and Mark-Anthony Turnage strike the listener less as independent pieces but as music that would function better as part of a larger work. The true ingenuity here is to be found in works such as light moving by American composer David Lang, which pulls folk influences together into a traditional perpetuum mobile focus, and in the great beauty of Somei Satoh’s Bifu, and Mercy by Max Richter. This apparantly niche-repertoire disc may be ‘specialist’ but it is also a valuable investment in the future.

-- Caroline Gill, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.sinfinimusic.com/uk/reviews/recordings/daily-reviews/hilary-hahn-encores
http://www.audaud.com/2014/05/in-27-pieces-the-hilary-hahn-encores-tracklist-follows-hilary-hahn-violin-cory-smythe-p-dgg-2-cds/
http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-27-pieces-the-hilary-hahn-encores-mw0002576863
http://www.amazon.com/In-27-Pieces-Hilary-Encores/dp/B00EPD3B2W

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. In her active international career she has performed throughout the world both as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She also has built a reputation for championing contemporary music. Several composers have written works specially for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon. She has released 16 albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, in addition to three DVDs, an Oscar-nominated movie soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children, and various compilations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Hahn

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!